Visma-Lease a Bike controlled the action all day for Van Aert but the Belgian couldn't hold off Groves in Villablino Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) beat Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) in a dramatic two-up sprint in Villablino on stage 14 of the Vuelta a España.  Van Aert's team-mates had controlled the action all day and reeled in the day's breakaway in a bid to set up a fourth stage win for the Belgian but Groves had too much power and took victory by a wheel as they both lunged for the line.  Van Aert burned up all his team-mates on the final category 1 climb and looked to piggyback off Groves' lead-out on the uphill drag to the line but the Australian held him off for a second win at this year's race and a sixth in three editions.  Corbin Strong (Israel-PremierTech) finished best of the rest with daylight between the top two and the remaining sprinters who largely all survived the day's mountains to contest the finish A delighted Groves celebrated with his team-mates after the stage and told reporters I didn't actually expect today to be a sprint as it was but Jumbo [sic] controlled it and to have a man on man sprint against Wout is pretty awesome.  "I was quite okay in the wheels [on the climb] I thought it would be hard if they started attacking but thankfully Jumbo just rode a really hard pace and no one attacked and thankfully my teammates also got over with me so we could control the finish.  It felt like a bit of a drag race against Wout but in the end it was good enough to beat him." the main drama was an untimely late mechanical for second-placed Primož Roglič inside the final 15km He was forced to swap bikes with team-mate Dani Martinez and chase back on the final descent but he rejoined the peloton without much trouble Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) retained the leader's red jersey on a more relaxed day for the general classification favourites likely already casting their minds ahead to stage 15's brutally mountainous challenge With just two categorised climbs on a lumpy parcours and neither steep enough to – in theory – put any of the GC riders in difficulty this had been earmarked by all concerned as a stage for the breakaway.  And despite being the longest stage of this edition of the Vuelta Wave after wave of attacks were neutralised by other riders eager to get up the road until an hour had passed and the peloton had already rattled through a quarter of the stage The main GC teams were content to sit back and keep their powder dry but even so it took an hour of racing before any group could get clear.  That move consisted of the trio of Jhonatan Narváez (Ineos Grenadiers) Their numbers soon doubled as first Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) and then perennial breakaway artist Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Dstny) and Harold Tejada (Astana-Qazaqstan) bridged across who missed the break and are still winless at Grand Tours in 2024 but before long the escapees’ advantage had swung out to 90 seconds as the gradients gently pitched up.   Visma-Lease a Bike took control on the long drag to the first real climb The six leaders were pegged at around two minutes ahead of the bunch a demoralising margin with a rampaging Van Aert hunting them down.  Meurisse attacked to take the maximum three points on the Puerto de Cerredo ahead of Frigo and Campenaerts but with 20 seconds knocked off their advantage on the climb the chance of a stage win slowly ebbed away along with the kilometres.  The six escapees rotated well to limit the damage on the descent even pushing their gap out to 2:15 on an uncategorised kicker But it was back down to 1:39 by the foot of the long split descent – enough of a gap to prevent Van Aert winning the intermediate sprint but not enough of a buffer to start dreaming of a stage win Meurisse rolled over the line uncontested to take the points in Cangas del Narcea inside the final 50km with 11km of false flat before the climb that would decide the outcome of the stage.  The category 1 Puerto de Leitariegos was the real battleground of the day packing 1000m of altitude into a 22.8km slog Its steady nature and average gradient of just 4.5% made it an unlikely scene for any general classification fireworks The day was instead coming down to a fight between the six up the road and the seven Visma-Lease a Bike riders – with plenty of others sheltering in their slipstream and waiting for a chance.  With 40km to race and the climb approaching Visma-Lease a Bike had brought the gap down to a shade over a minute and race leader Ben O’Connor’s teammates were also marshalling at the front Narváez and Frigo immediately dropped their companions as the road pitched up – although Campenaerts still felt chipper enough to smile pat Meurisse on the back and offer a peace sign to the camera motorbike as it panned back to the shelled riders.  That second trio on the road was soon swallowed up by the Visma-Lease a Bike machine the final three escapees were slowly reeled in Tejada was the first to abandon ship.  Ecuadorian champion Narváez – who had been the driving force in the break’s final stages – attacked Frigo a little over 6km from the summit but it was a doomed move and he was picked off with just under 20km left to ride He was awarded the day's combativity prize for his efforts.  As the peloton continued to climb into the swirling mists of the Puerto de Leitariegos’ upper slopes Tao Geoghegan Hart (Lidl-Trek) relieved Steven Kruijswijk of his duty as pacemaker and several teams jostled for position ahead of the descent A remarkably fresh-faced Van Aert took the maximum KOM points unchallenged and was the first to roll onto the long with a bunch sprint looking increasingly certain Suddenly there was drama in the general classification as Roglič was struck by an unfortunate mechanical He quickly shipped 30 seconds and was forced to adopt team-mate Martinez’s smaller bike to chase back onto the bunch Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe swarmed around the three-time champion and he made it back onto the peloton without further issue with none of his rivals looking to take advantage of his misfortune.  The speed continued to ramp up as an unlikely sprint finish beckoned and Alpecin-Deceuninck – who had spent the entire day resting in the peloton – took charge on the front devoid of teammates after their efforts on the final climb clung on to the back of Groves’ lead-out train and looked to have the jump on his rival with 50m to go but the Australian still had a late surge in him and won it on the line Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1 *Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1 the Australian’s second victory of this year’s race as his compatriot Ben O’Connor maintained his overall lead The longest stage of the race, a 200.5km ride from Villafranca del Bierzo to Villablino, came down to a bunch sprint, and it was the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider who held off Van Aert as he looked for his fourth stage win. New Zealand’s Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech) came in third, making it a repeat of stage two when Groves had edged out Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) for the win “I didn’t actually expect today to be a sprint as it was but Visma controlled it and to have a man-on-man sprint against Wout is pretty awesome,” Groves said It felt like a drag race against Wout but it was great to beat him.” Riders spotted in between houses on the road to Villablino Photograph: Miguel Riopa/AFP/Getty ImagesO’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) retained the leader’s red jersey with a gap of one minute and 21 seconds over Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) Roglic had a mechanical issue in the closing stages needing to take the bike of teammate Daniel Martínez but he managed to make it back in time for the finish An early six-rider breakaway group was kept under control by the peloton and they were reeled in on the final climb to set up the sprint finish Sunday’s stage 15 is a 143km ride from Infiesto to Valgrande-Pajares Sprinters survive category 1 Puerto de Leitariegos with Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) prevailing over green jersey Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease A Bike) on the uphill finish in Villablino Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech) rounded out the podium at the front of the reduced peloton at the finish Despite the stage featuring a late first-category climb the day brought a mass bunch sprint finish with the three sprint stage winners so far all featuring at the head of the race Alpecin-Deceuninck had command of the head of the peloton in the closing kilometres and so their confidence won out as the Belgian squad delivered the Australian to his second stage win of the race While DSM-Firmenich PostNL worked hard to deliver stage 5 winner Pavel Bittner into prime position late on the gradient to the line saw Groves and Van Aert emerge as the cream of the crop among the fast finishers with Van Aert poised to strike for a fourth stage win from the 25-year-old’s wheel the points classification leader didn’t have enough power to outlast Groves on the drag to the line almost pulling alongside his rival but not managing to do so I didn’t actually expect today to be as sprint as it was To have a man-on-man sprint against Wout is pretty awesome,” Groves said after the stage “I think it was quite OK in the wheels [on the climb] I thought it might be a bit hard if they start attacking but thankfully Visma rode a really high pace and no one attacked My teammates also got over with me so we could control the finish It felt like quite a bit of a drag race against Wout but in the end There was a touch of late drama on the stage as overall contender Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) was forced to switch bikes on the downhill run to the finish Luckily for the three-time winner and his team teammate Dani Martínez was around to hand over his own bike before Roglič made his way back to the peloton for the final 9km The Slovenian finished along with the rest of the red jersey contenders – including race leader Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) – finished safely in the peloton meaning the day brought no changes at the top of the overall standings O’Connor continues to lead the race by 1:21 from Roglič Stage 14 of the Vuelta a España brought another foray into the mountains for the peloton on the longest stage of the race – a 200.5km run from Villafranco del Bierzo to Villablino The first half of the stage would be marked by a long gradual uphill run to the third-category climb of Puerto de Cerredo before a loop down into the valley the first-category Puerto de Leitariegos (22.8km at 4.5%) was followed by a 15km downhill run to the finish The early kilometres of the stage were marked by masses of attacks at the front with the first hour of racing run at an average of 50kph and no breakaway to show for the efforts of numerous riders attempting to get away A group did eventually break clear at around the 156km to go mark Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) was joined in the move by Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Dstny) Jhonatan Narváez (Ineos Grenadiers) On the long uphill drag towards the day’s first climb the move took over two minutes on the peloton though with Visma-Lease A Bike taking charge behind their advantage wouldn’t grow much larger By the time Meurisse led the way over the peak of the Puerto de Cerredo with 98km to run Little changed on the way down the long descent though the break would lose a handful of extra seconds heading downhill Little else changed before the riders approached the long and steady Puerto de Leitariegos with the climb set to host the main action of the day before the finish looked a doomed prospect given their relatively meagre lead Heading into the final 40km at the base of the climb Narváez sensed just that and struck out on his own Tejada and Frigo fought on and linked up with the Ecuadorian to leave three battling on out front the gap back to the peloton – still led by Visma – lay at just 40 seconds it was up to Narváez to colour the move striking out again at 23km to go as Frigo and Tejada were caught Narváez would keep on going until the 20km to go mark still some 3km away from the top of the climb which at that point numbered around 60 men the polka dot and green jersey leader Wout van Aert struck out at the top to grab 10 extra points towards the tally of the former competition But there would be no GC action over the top meaning that Visma could attempt to carry out their day’s plan in delivering Van Aert to another stage win The descent down into Villablino was largely unremarkable with no riders chancing their arm trying to go clear at the front There was a moment of panic for Primož Roglič as his Vuelta flashed before his eyes thanks to a mechanical 15km from the finish He quickly mounted his teammate’s bike and was back in the peloton in plenty of time for the finish – no drama things were left up to the sprint squads as Visma and DSM sought to control the peloton on the run to the line to set the sprint up for their fast finishers All three teams were still in the frame in the final kilometre with the Australian powering home and holding off his sprint rival at the line Results powered by FirstCycling Dani has reported from the world's top races She has interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars and her favourite races are the Giro d'Italia Another of those affected, with cranioencephalic trauma, was evacuated to the hospital in Cangas del Narcea and the fourth was discovered just after midday and was also taken to hospital. One person is still missing and two are unharmed after the accident. The incident happened at 9.40 a.m. this morning at the mine owned by Carbones La Cueva, which also owns the Tormaleo mine in Ibias. Health services, firefighters and the central mining rescue brigade, as well as members of the Civil Guard from Degaña, Cangas de Narcea, and the judicial police from Pravia, are all on the scene. Apparently, the first indications are that there was a cave-in as a result of an apparent explosion. The regional government has already asked for help from Castilla y León, which has sent at least one rescue helicopter. The regional minister for Ecological Transition and Industry, Belarmina Díaz, has also gone there. The president of the region, Adrián Barbón, who is also due to go to the scene, has cancelled all the engagements scheduled for this Monday. Following the accident, the regional minister for Mobility, Local Cooperation and Emergency Management, Alejandro Calvo, activated the region's emergency plan. Comentar es una ventaja exclusiva para registrados Registered office Málaga, Avda. Dr. Marañón, 48. winning a tight two-man sprint into Villablino after making it through some tough climbs.VILLABLINO SPAIN - AUGUST 31: Kaden Groves of Australia and Team Alpecin Deceuninck celebrates at finish line as stage winner during the La Vuelta - 79th Tour of Spain 2024 - Stage 14 a 200.5km stage from Villafranco del Bierzo to Villablino / #UCIWT / on August 31 (Photo by Dario Belingheri/Getty Images) Source: Getty / Dario Belingheri/Getty Images Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España.Get the latest with our sport podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.Watch on SBS SportSport News Overall leader Ben O'Connor had a smoother ride on the longest stage of the tour a 200-kilometer route between Villafranca del Bierzo and Villablino He will go into Sunday's 15th stage still wearing the leader's red jersey belonged to Alpecin-Deceuninck rider Groves who added this win to his victory in Stage 2 who was aiming for a fourth victory in this Vuelta had his Visma-Lease a Bike team riding all day to control and recapture the breakaway and secure a good position in the sprint it was the 25-year-old Quaeenslander who crossed the line first "To win a man-on-man sprint against Wout is pretty awesome," Groves told Eurosport at the finish and it felt like a bit of a drag race against Wout it's good to see the consistency paying off." Van Aert still heads the green jersey classification O'Connor dropped nearly two minutes to Roglic on Friday but he had a more comfortable ride this time and almost snatched a couple of bonus seconds when Roglic suffered a puncture 14 kilometers from the finish The Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe car was on hand to ensure a quick bike exchange and the Slovenian was able to rejoin the peloton Roglic and O'Connor both will be aware that Sunday's Stage 15 could well decide the outcome of the Vuelta It is a mountainous 142.9-kilometer ride with the riders tackling the Alto de Santo Emiliano and a double ascent of the Alto de la Colladiella before the Cuitu Negru with a vicious steep finale FloBikes is the streaming home to some of the best cycling from across the globe. Check out the broadcast schedule to watch more of your favorites in action. Video footage from each event will be archived and stored in a video library for FloBikes subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscriptions Get the most important Cycling stories delivered straight to your inbox Slovenian recovers after late mechanical on final descent into Villablino on stage 14 In the end, it was a useful reminder and nothing more. The Vuelta a España is never as straightforward as it seems, even for Primož Roglič The Slovenian has won this race three times but each of those victories had its fraught moments A day after placing a hefty deposit on the red jersey on the Puerto de Ancares Roglič endured another late scare on stage 14 to Villablino The peloton had just crested the Puerto de Leitariegos and crossed from Asturias back into Léon when Roglič realised something was awry with his bike He braked to a halt together with teammate Daniel Martínez who swiftly handed over his machine and pushed his leader on his way once again There were barely more than 10km – fast and downhill – to the finish line but Roglič radiated his usual beatific calm as he set about chasing back on the television cameras of the host broadcaster seemed altogether more flustered by the incident than he did mistakenly stopping to focus on Martínez's waiting for a replacement bike rather than following Roglič's pursuit After his exhibition on the Puerto de Ancares on stage 13 Roglič looks increasingly like the man to beat on this Vuelta That effort slashed red jersey Ben O'Connor's once-daunting lead to a more manageable 1:21 while Roglič also extended his buffer over third-placed Enric Mas In Villafranco del Bierzo on Saturday morning directeur sportif Patxi Vila wasn't convinced that the new configuration of the general classification would necessarily hand Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe a greater responsibility for the policing of the peloton where Visma-Lease a Bike spent the bulk of the day setting the tempo on behalf of Van Aert "At the end we just focus on our race," Vila told Cyclingnews we're executing it and we're keeping focused on that We want to make it to Madrid in as little time as possible so we're not really looking to other people." by Red Bull's collective strength on the Puerto de Ancares Despite Roglič's brace of stage wins in the opening week Red Bull haven't always imposed themselves on this Vuelta but their display on Friday was their most complete to this point Aleksandr Vlasov and Martínez all firing on the lower slopes of the final climb in the service of Roglič "We knew that from Friday until to the end of the race would be the hardest part so we tried to really maximise the recovery and the shape of the riders towards the final part of the Vuelta," Vila said "Hopefully we will see that we were right to do that The first nine days were very hard and very hot so we weren't sure how that would impact the riders I'm pretty sure that somewhere that will pop up but we've been looking at taking care of each of the eight riders we have here to make sure they reach their full potential." The lingering effects of that injury remained a concern even after Roglič's stage wins in the first week he confessed that Red Bull hadn't chased down the day's early break because he "didn't feel completely confident yet." His self-belief will surely have been bolstered by his imperious display at Os Ancares where he steadily and remorselessly burnt Mas off his wheel on the climb's harshest 15% slopes The two minutes lopped off O'Connor's lead was the headline news on Friday but Roglič's gains of a minute on Mas and Richard Carapaz might be just as significant in the overall narrative of this race I would like to have something more," Vila smiled We took some time back from O'Connor but we also put some time into the third and fourth on GC After twin ascents of the category 1 Alto de la Colladiella the Vuelta returns to the special category summit finish at Cuitu Negru (18.9km at 7.4%) "A deficit of 1:21 on the red jersey seems like nothing there's still a lot of work to do and the hardest part of the Vuelta is still to come," Vila said I raced the climb as far as Pajares a lot of times I spent some time there for a recon… That's a climb thanks to competition from the renewable energy sector cheaper imported coal from Africa and Russia and air-quality regulations approved by the European Union The decline of the coal industry has been particularly severe in Spain IBTimes UK presents an in-depth look at Spain's dying coal industry by Getty Images photojournalist David Ramos The village of Ciñera de Gordón in the province of Leon was once a thriving mining town the entire village is up for sale – including 128 houses a public swimming pool and a cinema – because the coal mining company owner of these buildings has gone bankrupt mainly located in the provinces of Asturias and Leon In the 1960s more than 100,000 coal miners worked across the "Cuencas mineras" or coal mining regions In the 1970s and 80s – the heyday of the Spanish mining industry – Asturias was one of the most prosperous regions in southern Europe Now its growth is the lowest of all the regions of Spain The Spanish coal mining industry has long been kept afloat by generous government subsidies Any mines which are not profitable by that date must be closed Environmentalists have criticised the government for subsidising an industry they say is destined to disappear and that the money would be better spent on developing renewable energy sources Visit the International Business Times UK Pictures page to see our latest picture galleries. © Copyright IBTimes 2025. All rights reserved. Ben O'Connor braced for more attacks on longest day of Grand Tour into Villablino at 200.5km The Vuelta a España delivers the longest day of the Grand Tour, 200.5km, with a vengeance - on a third consecutive trudge through the mountains and deep into the second week of racing. Logic says the break has a solid chance of going the distance on terrain like this, but the positioning of a category 1 climb shortly before the finish means that the GC men will be primed for action as the race circles into Asturias. The peloton takes in the town’s castle and monastery and then the rolling roads from Villafranca del Bierzo, a first-time host for the Vuelta a España. After the first 91.4km, all uphill, the riders will pass through the finish line in Villablino a first time and set off for a large northerly loop. The category 3 Puerto de Cerredo hits just 10km later, 7km in official length with an average gradient of 4.6%. Then there is almost 48km until the intermediate sprint in Cangas del Narcea. The day’s key difficulty comes in the finale, however, as the route climbs back out of Asturias by way of the long, long haul over the Puerto de Leitariegos, 22.8km and averaging 4.5%. The slopes are very regular, but the length of the climb could cause some problems. And of course, the GC contenders have been jostling for position behind leader Ben O’Conner (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale). Will a breakaway enjoy opportunities like stage 13? Will Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) attack again to chip away at the Australian’s lead? Will GC contenders like Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) finally spring into action? The last summit is just a 16km drop to the finish in Villablino, with a flat 5km to the line. There are no doubts that it is sure to be a fast finale. The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox! Cyclingnews is the world's leader in English-language coverage of professional cycling Started in 1995 by University of Newcastle professor Bill Mitchell the site was one of the first to provide breaking news and results over the internet in English The site was purchased by Knapp Communications in 1999 and owner Gerard Knapp built it into the definitive voice of pro cycling major publishing house Future PLC has owned the site and expanded it to include top features The site continues to be the most comprehensive and authoritative English voice in professional cycling.